http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source ... kA&cad=rja
We send men in to situations to do a dirty job that most of us wouldn't have the guts to face, then complain if events sometimes work out differently to that which we might prefer.
Whether BL was armed or not is irrelevant, the US forces would not have known and would have to act as if he was .
Their courage is the same whether BL was armed or, we should respect their courage, as I do.
I will not criticise them!
Roy.
Bin Laden
Moderators: MichelleH, Minimalist, JPeters
Re: Bin Laden
First people deny a thing, then they belittle it, then they say it was known all along! Von Humboldt
Re: Bin Laden
Thanks for the link, dig.
I'm with you. My first reaction when I heard the news was a huge smile that just automatically spread across my face. Then I thought, gee, there should be bells ringing throughout the land in celebration.
So, I'm human.
Later I thought about an article I'd read several years ago on the capture of Adolf Eichmann by Israeli agents. One of the agents had lost a sister to Eichmann's "solution." The agent was left alone with Eichmann at one point in the process of getting him out of Argentina. He said it took all of his restraint not to kill him on the spot. But he said that he was committed to the value of a trial, for the triumph of civilization over brute force, of Jewish values over Nazi ones. I knew when I read that that I couldn't have been that restrained in the same situation, but I greatly admired him.
And yet, I still kept smiling over OBL's death. The world didn't know the full truth about Eichmann until his trial, but we all knew about OBL. As min pointed out, OBL freely admitted his role and produced additional tapes and threats. There are several nutjobs in the world who would have used a trial as an excuse to issue ultimatums. I can easily imagine hostages taken for an exchange of them for OBL. Or violent demonstrations and attacks on innocents throughout the pretrial and trial period, not to mention during an execution.
The way it happened, including the burial at sea, was the best way for all concerned. No site for demonstrations to gather at. No prolonged demonstrations and violence. There will still be retaliatory attacks. I have no doubt of it. But that was inevitable with or without a trial. As it is, OBL's manner of death was still more humane than that of his victims.
(Edited to include the following comment)
I should have added that, aside from my own, admittedly personal reaction to OBL's death, there is the issue of justice and the US living up to the expectation of acting as a civilized nation of laws. On that point, OBL was a wanted criminal, not only for the mass murders of Americans and other nationals on 9/11 at the WTC and the Pentagon, but also for the mass murders of people at two African embassies in 1998. He had freely and very publicly taken credit for the commission of those crimes.....bragged about them, in fact, and threatened to commit more of the same. He was located in a compound designed for his protection against being taken, and protected by armed guards. Not unsurprisingly, he was not about to be taken without a fight and was killed in the process of trying to be taken. I see no injustice there.
I'm with you. My first reaction when I heard the news was a huge smile that just automatically spread across my face. Then I thought, gee, there should be bells ringing throughout the land in celebration.
So, I'm human.
Later I thought about an article I'd read several years ago on the capture of Adolf Eichmann by Israeli agents. One of the agents had lost a sister to Eichmann's "solution." The agent was left alone with Eichmann at one point in the process of getting him out of Argentina. He said it took all of his restraint not to kill him on the spot. But he said that he was committed to the value of a trial, for the triumph of civilization over brute force, of Jewish values over Nazi ones. I knew when I read that that I couldn't have been that restrained in the same situation, but I greatly admired him.
And yet, I still kept smiling over OBL's death. The world didn't know the full truth about Eichmann until his trial, but we all knew about OBL. As min pointed out, OBL freely admitted his role and produced additional tapes and threats. There are several nutjobs in the world who would have used a trial as an excuse to issue ultimatums. I can easily imagine hostages taken for an exchange of them for OBL. Or violent demonstrations and attacks on innocents throughout the pretrial and trial period, not to mention during an execution.
The way it happened, including the burial at sea, was the best way for all concerned. No site for demonstrations to gather at. No prolonged demonstrations and violence. There will still be retaliatory attacks. I have no doubt of it. But that was inevitable with or without a trial. As it is, OBL's manner of death was still more humane than that of his victims.
(Edited to include the following comment)
I should have added that, aside from my own, admittedly personal reaction to OBL's death, there is the issue of justice and the US living up to the expectation of acting as a civilized nation of laws. On that point, OBL was a wanted criminal, not only for the mass murders of Americans and other nationals on 9/11 at the WTC and the Pentagon, but also for the mass murders of people at two African embassies in 1998. He had freely and very publicly taken credit for the commission of those crimes.....bragged about them, in fact, and threatened to commit more of the same. He was located in a compound designed for his protection against being taken, and protected by armed guards. Not unsurprisingly, he was not about to be taken without a fight and was killed in the process of trying to be taken. I see no injustice there.